


Perfect

by sadwitchcraft



Series: Memories of House Pavus [3]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Arranged Marriage, Dorian Pavus Has Family Issues, Dorian Pavus Has Issues, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Outed, playing fast a loose with lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24514615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadwitchcraft/pseuds/sadwitchcraft
Summary: Dorian is not the perfect son his parents wanted. Part of a series exploring Dorian's backstory.---“Rilienus was there?”“He’s my friend, mother.”“Dorian…” Aquinea was still fussing with a fold in his robes, not looking up at him, “I have some concerns. About Rilienus.”
Relationships: Dorian Pavus/Rilienus
Series: Memories of House Pavus [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771555
Kudos: 2





	Perfect

“Oh, Dorian, you’re filthy,” Aquinea’s voice was tight as Dorian leaned in to hug her, kissing her on the temple. Despite what she said, Dorian knew full well that he was one of the few people who could touch Aquinea without her going into a complete meltdown. 

“Sorry, mother,” he pulled back, watching her reach for the little stone she had enchanted to ‘cleanse’. Aquinea always preferred charms and enchantments over other forms of magic, and some of her work was really quite clever. He was particularly fond of a silencing charm he had co-opted from her. Surely, she hadn’t meant for it to be used how he was using it, but that was beside the point.

She reached up and cupped his cheek, fondly running her thumb over his cheekbone. His relationship with her may have been quite literally at arm’s length most of the time compared to Halward, but that didn’t mean there was any less love. Dorian leaned his face into the touch, smiling at his mother.

“I heard you passed,” she smiled back at him, keeping her hand where it was. He raised his own hand to cover hers and nodded.

“Flawlessly,” Dorian was all too happy to brag to her, “with perfect marks. Rilienus said he saw tears in father’s eyes. Can you imagine?”

Aquinea gave Dorian’s cheek a soft pat and pulled her hand back, “I’m sorry. That I did not go.”

“I know, that’s fine. I understand and you don’t need to explain,” Dorian dropped his own hands to her thin shoulders, “I came to see you so you needn’t worry about it.”

She gave him an appreciative smile, once more reaching out to him. Dorian let her straighten his robes and fuss over his appearance. It was contact. It was rare that she let herself have contact. 

“Rilienus was there?”

“He’s my friend, mother.”

“Dorian…” Aquinea was still fussing with a fold in his robes, not looking up at him, “I have some concerns. About Rilienus.” 

“What, why?” Dorian tilted his head curiously, though he felt his heart flutter in his chest. Surely, no one knew. Least of all not his mother, who rarely left her home.

“How you smile, when you say his name,” Aquinea finally looked up at him, her eyes searching his face, “how often you are with him. When you brought him here last… I saw you in the garden.”

Dorian’s entire existence narrowed down to those words. Saw you in the garden. The garden… had been so brief. He’d reminded Rilienus that they needed to be discreet, but -- but that hadn’t stopped him from stealing a sweet kiss from Dorian’s lips. Of course Aquinea had seen. She’d spent his entire childhood watching him from her windows. She was an expert at it. He had been so foolish to just set the incident aside and think it wouldn’t come back in some way.

“Mother…”

“Livia Herathinos is a good girl, from a good family. There’s no better match for you. Your father and I agreed on this. I did so much work, Dorian. Looking through her genealogy, looking through records. Her bloodlines are a perfect compliment to yours,” Aquinea spoke quickly, holding onto his robes so that he couldn’t pull away from her. She knew her son. She knew he would pull away, anticipated he’d start yelling. She held on.

“That’s wonderful, mother,” Dorian did start to take a step back, but was held in place by her grip on his clothes, “and while I appreciate that you did so much work in researching our respective pedigrees, I don’t know Livia Herathinos. I’m not going to be with someone I don’t know. That’s ridiculous.”

“We have already arranged for you to marry,” Aquinea insisted, “we met with Magister Herathinos years ago to discuss this. It is advantageous for both House Pavus and House Herathinos. Your children would be--”

“Perfect?” Dorian cut her off, “Aren’t I already?”

“Your child could be Archon,” Aquinea insisted, “as a child of House Pavus and Herathinos, it would be closer to a rightful claim by blood.”

“Besides a direct descendant of Radonis himself, and anyone else from his House.. Are you planning to take over Tevinter, mother? I think you’re forgetting that blood rights aren’t always guaranteed.”  
“You’re going to marry her, Dorian,” Aquinea’s voice was quiet but insistent, “and stop this foolishness with Rilienus. Do what is best for you, best for your family.”

“I rather think I am doing what is best for me,” Dorian finally managed to take a step back from her, “I’m going to leave. Wonderful seeing you, mother. Next time, let’s not discuss the breeding of dogs. Oh, wait. Not dogs. Your son.”

It was hard to be angry at Aquinea. No, what he felt was more like a heartache. He had only wanted her to be proud of him for passing his tests. He was actually an Enchanter now, and he hadn’t even been able to say it to her. He just had to mention Rilienus. Shame was sharp and distasteful in his mouth. To think that his own mother had seen them kissing in the garden. He’d warned Ril that something bad was going to happen, that they had to be more careful. And that damned beautiful man had assured Dorian that they would be fine. They’d have to talk.

He dreaded talking about anything serious. Damned if he didn’t love Ril, but the man couldn’t be bothered to be serious half the time. Especially when it came to matters like these. His name didn’t carry as much weight as Dorian’s. He wasn’t as concerned about what people would think, how his family would react. He told him that he wanted to hold Dorian’s hand in public and Dorian… no, he couldn’t do that. That’d be a political suicide.

Political suicide. Why was he even thinking that? How could he snarl at his mother about how ridiculous she sounded for pursuing bloodlines when his own thoughts chastised him about how something looked politically? If he loved Ril, shouldn’t he just love the man and stop worrying? It wasn’t exactly like he wanted anything to do with the Magisterium. Everyone who was anyone had sat in on the meetings of the Magisters and it just looked so incredibly dull. Nothing interesting ever happened. Even the yelling matches and displays of power got repetitive -- he didn’t want that for his life.

He wanted Ril’s smile, his hot whiskey skin, and roses. More immediately, he wanted a drink.


End file.
